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PRCA 2330 Top Tens

Number 10 by yoppy.

For your final (as in culminating, not exam) blog post in PRCA 2330, create a top ten list of things you learned in Introduction to Public Relations. Be very specific. 

For example:

  • Good: I’ll need to learn Associated Press Style to write news releases that will get published.
  • Not so good: How to write a news release
  • Awful: News release

Options:

  • Create the list in audio, and embed the audio to your blog. (Utterli is an easy way to do this.)
  • Create the list in PowerPoint, then embed the slidedeck into your blog. (I use SlideShare for this.) If you make your slides with mostly images and few words, be sure to put your details in the Notes portion of your slides.
  • Create a 10-minute or shorter video, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo, then embed the video into your blog.
  • Base your list on your favorite movie (for example: “Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Intro to PR, I Learned in ______________”)
  • Simply write the list in WordPress (zzzzz…. boring)

This Top Ten List will be worth 50 points (from your Engagement points) and is due May 3 by midnight. Use the category of Assignment so that I can find it on your blog easily. 

NOTE: You also need to post a link to your Top Ten List as a reply to this blog post.

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Listening to Volunteers: Best Practices for Leaders

How can a nonprofit organization survive without its volunteers? They can’t. It’s critical that we listen to our volunteers.

At both the International Listening Association and the Southern States Communication Association, I shared several best practices on listening to volunteers. The ILA session was recorded live; the audio from that session accompanies the slides in this slidedeck:

Listening To Volunteers: Best Practices for Leaders 

What additional examples would you add?

barbara_is_listening
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A Domino’s PR Disaster in the Making?

UPDATE: Since I originally posted this, I’ve learned that Domino’s is taking steps to fire the two employees in the video.

AUDIO UPDATE: Neville Hobson posted this concise audio about the fiasco:

It was a relatively calm morning, both in my home and in the Twittersphere. And then I saw this message from Adam Cohen:

adamcohen

As a former Domino’s employee, a current Domino’s customer AND a professor of public relations, I felt compelled to see what Adam found. Here it is, all its “glory”:

 
 

At about 10:20 this morning, I went to Domino’s website. After a bit of poking around, I found their online contact form. This is what I sent to them:

I teach public relations at Georgia Southern University. Are you aware of this video titled “Disgusting Dominos People” on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFxqC8hZ_xs ? Having worked at a Domino’s in Auburn (AL) in college, I was appalled at what is shown in the video. Is anything being done to address this? There’s a huge discussion going on about the topic on Twitter now, too: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=domino . If possible, I’d like to know what your company is doing to combat this, so I can share it with my PR students.

Thank you,

Barbara Nixon, Ph.D. (ABD) :: Georgia Southern University

I am curious to see what reaction Domino’s has to this video. This might be a good case study in crisis public relations.

UPDATE: April 14, 2009, 11:00 AM

Apparently another blogger has heard back from Tim McIntyre (in Corporate Communications at Domino’s).  See “Video: Let the Domino’s Appall” for his response, which says in part:

We just got off the phone with the franchise owner, who was absolutely dumbfounded by this. He has told us that he will be terminating their employment effective immediately.

Will I stop ordering from Domino’s? No, I won’t stop. I would like to know that these two people no longer work for the company. Domino’s is a company I trust. I just hope that they’re paying attention what people are saying about the company now.

Stay tuned.

barbara_is_listening

 

 

 

 

 

(PS: Thanks, Adam, for calling this to my attention. I’ve used part of original tweet as the title to this blog post.)

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My End-of-Semester Rant, Kinda

On my campus, and probably on most campuses, we’re approaching finals time.

If you’re a parent, it means it’s almost time to send off a final exam care package.

If you’re a faculty member, it means even more. Here are a few of my thoughts as the semester winds down.

Students are stressed because “they are so busy.”

Juggling KnivesHINT: Yes, I know you feel busy now. And this is great prep for you when you get into the working world. You’ve known all semester that you have these projects due at the same time. In the world of PR, you’ve got to be ready to juggle. And not just juggling scarves or bowling pins; those are too easy. Think juggling knives while walking on a tightrope over flames. (Isn’t that an awesome graphic? It came from mike r baker‘s website. Check out his other stuff!)

Students are coming to me (usually by e-mail, but sometimes in person or Twitter) asking about what their grades are so far.

HINT: I post everything in GeorgiaVIEW, so this is info that you have immediate access to all throughout the semester. Please don’t wait until the end of the semester to check your progress.

Students (not all, but some) are upset about their grades and seem surprised it’s because they left out big parts of their projects/assignments.

HINT: And this one’s a big one. I give detailed assignment guidelines for all major – and most minor – assignments. I even provide a link to the rubrics for most assignments during the semester. What more can I do to ensure that you know how you will what needs to be included and how you will be graded? (That’s a real question, not a rhetorical one.)

Students follow the advice and guidelines they’ve been given and do extremely well on their assignments. These are the kind of students that employers look forward to hiring.

HINT: It does happen every semester. At least a few people in each class “get it,” and make it all worthwhile for me. If you’re one of these people, THANK U! 

 

[NOTE: This post is an updated version from last spring.]

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Another 48 Hours (of Twitter!)

PRCA 2330 Students

Earlier this semester, you had the opportunity to try out Twitter and then write about your One Week of Twitter on your blogs. Some of you continued to use Twitter even after the assignment was over. Several have used Twitter as a way to connect with me personally (via direct messages).

Now you have the opportunity to jump back into Twitter one more time. Pick a 48-hour period ending no later than April 22 to engage on Twitter again. You should send a minimum of 10 tweets over this timeframe. Use the hashtag #PRCA2330 in your tweets so that others in our class can find them easily. Be sure to send me an @ message to let me know when you’re starting your 48 hours.

Ideas for things to tweet about

  1. Share (shortened) hyperlinks to sites on the topic of public relations.
  2. Respond to public relations professionals.
  3. Ask questions that could be answered by public relations professionals.
  4. Promote a campus organization or event that you’re involved with.
  5. Rave or rant about a brand.

Write a blog post about your Twitter experience

This post is due before midnight on April 22 and is worth up to 50 points. Use the category of “Assignment” so that I can easily find this post. Include all of the following:

  1. A hyperlink to your Twitter username (for example: “You can find me on Twitter @barbaranixon.”)
  2. How was this 48-hour experience different from your first week on Twitter? (Be specific.)
  3. What surprises you about using Twitter?
  4. What do you still want to know about, related to using Twitter?
  5. Recommend at least three public relations professionals (not including any of the ones I originally recommended), with a brief explanation of why you’re recommending other public relations students to follow them. (Hyperlink to their Twitter usernames.)

NOTE: You also need to post a link to your Another 48 Hours post as a comment on this blog post.

Questions?

barbara_is_listening